Lionel Newman
b. 4 January 1916, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, d. 3 February 1989. Newman was a talented pianist as a child, and while in his teens started out as a rehearsal pianist for the Earl Carroll Vanities show, ending up as the musical director. He toured with other shows, played piano for Mae West for a while, and performed the same function at 20th Century-Fox when he joined them in 1943. Earlier in 1938, he had composed the title song (lyric by Arthur Quenzer) for the movie THE COWBOY AND THE LADY, which had a score by his elder brother, Alfred Newman. In the late '40s Lionel's songs included As If I Didn't Have Enough On My Mind (with Harry James), sung by Dick Haymes in DO YOU LOVE ME?, as well as The Morning Glory Road, Ramblin Around’ and Sentimental Souvenirs. He had a smash hit in 1948 with the romantic ballad Again (lyric by Dorcas Cochrane), from the film ROAD HOUSE. It was successful at the time for, among others, Doris Day, Gordon Jenkins and Vic Damone. Another of his numbers, NEVER (lyric by Eliot Daniel), sung by Dennis Day in GOLDEN GIRL (1951), was nominated for an Oscar. In his career as a musical director, Newman worked on such films as CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (1950), THE JACKPOT (1950), MOTHER DIDN'T TELL ME (1950), I'LL GET BY (1950), DANGEROUS CROSSING (1953), LOVE ME TENDER (1956, Elvis Presley's first film), THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (1956), MARDI GRAS (1958), Doctor Doolittle (1967), THE GREAT WHITE HOPE (1970) and THE SALTZBURG CONNECTION (1972). He supervised all Marilyn Monroe's productions for Fox, such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954) and THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954). As the Studio's general music director, and senior vice-president in 1982, he was a powerful influence on the Fox output. His original music scores included DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952), THE PROUD ONES (1956), A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956), COMPULSION (1959), NORTH TO ALASKA (1960), MOVE OVER DARLING (1963), THE PLEASURE SEEKERS (1964, with Alexander Courage) and DO NOT DISTURB (1965). He was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won the Oscar, with Lennie Hayton, in 1969 for his adaptation of Jerry Herman's score for the film version of Hello, Dolly!. During the early '80s he conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra in the USA, and performed at London's Royal Albert Hall. He retired in 1985, but was persuaded by MGM to return to the business in 1987. He died two years later in California.